Systemic administration of a delta opioid receptor agonist, KNT-127, facilitates extinction learning of fear memory in rats

Abstract

Strategies to facilitate extinction of fear memory have attracted increasing attention for enhancing the effectiveness of exposure therapy for anxiety disorders. Previously, we demonstrated that systemic administration of a delta opioid receptor agonist, KNT-127, has clear anxiolytic-like effects in rats, without impairing memory. These observations led us to hypothesize that KNT-127 might be an appropriate therapeutic agent for anxiety disorders when combined with exposure therapy. In the present study, we demonstrate that KNT-127 (3 mg/kg) facilitates extinction learning of fear memory using the contextual fear conditioning test. As expected, a partial agonist at the glycine-binding site on the glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor, d-cycloserine (15 mg/kg), facilitated extinction learning of contextual fear in rats. In contrast, a benzodiazepine anxiolytic, diazepam (1 mg/kg), impaired the fear extinction learning. Interestingly, the facilitatory effect of KNT-127 on extinction learning was observed not only after a 10-min re-exposure, but also after a much shorter (2-min) re-exposure to the context, while d-cycloserine was ineffective at facilitating extinction when a short-duration exposure was given. Our findings may suggest that administration of a delta opioid receptor agonist might have therapeutic efficacy when combined with exposure therapy for treating a range of anxiety disorders.